Glencraig was a distillery within a distillery as it was the name give to whisky produced by two Lomond stills installed at the Glenburgie distillery in 1956. Miltonduff had the same idea with their Lomond stills installed in 1964 with the output named ‘Mosstowie’. Both Glencraig and Mosstowie ended production in 1981 as the demand for Lomond whisky dwindled away. Some say it was no loss because the majority of alcohol produced wasn’t up to much but if you do your research, good examples can be found.

Over 88/100 on Whiskybase from 20 member votes is a clear indication that this Glencraig by Signatory is an excellent dram. Comments include “very tasty”, “very interesting” and “a whisky with a-typical herbal and spicy profile, but very special though. Delicious and well balanced.” Tasting notes mention herbs, honey, beeswax, ashes, campfire, vanilla, citrus, apple syrup, cinnamon, green vegetables, pineapples and charcoal. It certainly sounds complex!

Time for a grumble! When this bottle of Glencraig arrived from the ‘English Whisky Company’ I opened the tube to be greeted by a strong smell of whisky. The bottle wasn’t broken, the plastic around the top was intact and the cork was firmly driven in. All I can think is that the stopper isn’t tight enough and some whisky had seeped through during transit. I didn’t complain because no whisky was missing but this bottle is an obvious candidate for evaporation. I was hoping to keep it as an investment but not if the level drops dramatically in the next few years (it looks low already). At least if that happens I know it’s going to be a nice one to drink! Some problems have a silver lining.